Meet our people

Mellish Kett

Rotodynamics Standards Manager , Waste Water Services

"The firm has just agreed to support me through my MSc, which is great, so I'll be doing that part time for the next three years."

What does your current role involve?

I work in the Design and Build Standards team, which looks after the design and build standards of new assets for Sewage Treatment, Sewerage, Water Treatment and Distribution. My involvement focuses on the Pumps and Blowers we use. We look at things such as strategy, how and what we install now and in the future, providing technical advice to other areas of the business like Purchasing, Engineering. 

  How did you start out at Severn Trent? What’s  your career path been?

I joined the graduate development programme three years ago, after studying Mechanical Engineering at Loughborough. I’ve always been interested in “big engineering”, so this was an environment that really appealed to me.

What’s been the biggest surprise about the company?

I was surprised by the amount of renewable energy projects the company is involved in. It’s not just about providing water and then taking it away. On the back of that core activity, we also produce quite a lot of green energy from biogas – and we’re looking at different wind turbine projects as well now.

What has been your most enjoyable experience since joining?

I worked on a project to design a new piece of plant used in the sewage treatment process. While looking at the challenge, I realised there was a technology that’s usually used in another context that could be applied here. I suggested it, we built it, and it’s worked really well. Not only that, but I was named Young Engineer of the Year by the Pump Centre.

What are you most looking forward to, in the short, medium or long term?

In the short term I am very keen to start to make a difference in my role, it has been a steep learning curve in the first six months but I can see a lot of opportunities for improvements. The company has agreed to support me through my MSc, which is great – so I’ll be doing that part time for the next three years. I’ve also been talking to my manager about the development steps I need to take in order to progress to the next level within the engineering team here. The discussions have all been very positive, so I feel I’m getting all the encouragement and support I could possibly ask for.